Apparatus for the boring of wells, or shafts, and for like operations



MDe. 25,1934. l P. J. M. 'r. ALLARD APPARATUS Fon THE onme oF wELLs, on snAF'rs,A AND FORLIKE oPERATroNs Filed nay 26, 1953 v, 2 Sheets-sheet 1 uv vsn rok:

DE 25,1934 A P. J: M. r. ALLARD 1,985,710

APPARATUS FOR THE BORING OF WELLS, OR l- SHAFTS, AND FOR LIKE OPERATIONS Filed Mayl 26. 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Q N N CJ: j

H 1' rox/ve y Patented Dec. 2s, 1934 UNITED STATES APPARATUS FOR THE BORING 0F 0R SHAFTS, AND FOR LIKE OPERATIONS Pierre Jean Marle Theodore Allard, Ste. Adresse,

France, assigner to Societe Francaise de Construction de Bennes Automatiques, Le Havre, France, a French company Application May 26, 1933, Serial No. 672,937

France August 25, 1932 Y 6 Claims. (Cl. 37-187) The present invention relates to an apparatus for the boring, the excavation, the sinking of wells or shafts, and like operations, and is remarkable by the fact that it consists of a grab the operating parts of which are mounted at the bottom of an elongated main body having a practically cylindrical form and adapted to guide the said grab in the cavity to be excavated, the weight of the body being suilicient to enable its use for operating upon the soil by percussion.

This arrangement provides for the construction of small grabs having a relatively'considerable weight, and especially employed for the sinking of wells. According to another feature of the invention,

the mechanism for opening and closing the grab is entirely enclosed in the said main body.

'I'he mechanism for operating the grab is thus protected against contact with stones, earth, mud, etcwhich would offer prejudice to its proper working.

Further characteristics of the invention will be set forth in the following description.

In the accompanying drawings, which are l m Fig. 3 is a partial vertical section of another construction o f the member provided with the operating tools and Fig. 4 is the corresponding plan view.

Figs. 5 and 6 are views analogous to Figs. 3 and 4, of another modification.

In the form of construction represented in Fig. 1, the apparatus comprises an elongated main body the external form of which is practically cylindrical, or preferably somewhat ta- 0 pered. This body is provided at the top with a ring or hook 2 for attaching a cable 3. The said body is hollow, and comprises upper chambers 4 containing lubricating oil, which may 'flow into the interior of the body l through holes 5. 111e 5 said body contains the operating which includes a set of pulleys 6 mounted on an upper spindle 7. and a second set of pulleys 8 mounted on a spindle 9 supported by a block 10 which is slidable iny a guide ,11 formed in the 0 body 1.' A shoulder l2 located at the upper part of the body l serves as a stop for the block 10.

A. cable 13 is attached at one end at 14 to the body 1and passes over a set of pulleys 6 and 8 and over a guiding pulley 15 r which is loosely 5 mounted at the upper part of the body l,

To the lowerend of the body 1 is secured, by bolts 16 or the like, a ring 17 which is coaxially mounted with respect to said body by means of a circular shoulder 18, and whose internal diameter is preferably smaller than the external diam- 5 eter of the block l0.

'Ihe ring 17 is provided with forked brackets 19 the number of which corresponds to that o! the scoops 20, (in the construction shown in Figs. 1 and 2, two scoops have been shown) thus forming pivot members for the said scoops. Each of the brackets 19 carries a spindle 2l passing through a central rib or lug 22 pertaining to one of the scoops 20 of the grab. In the open position oi' the scoops 20 (as shown in Fig. 1) the rib 22 makes contact with the ring 17, which forms a stop for the opening motion.` The rib 22 is extended inwardly with reference to the scoop 20 by a flat arm 23 engaging a central y forked bracket 24 and connected with one side of 20 the bracket by a pin 25 extending through a slot 26 in the arm 23. The arm 23 of the second scoop 20 is connected inthe same manner with the other side of the bracket 24 (Fig.2).

The bracket 24 is securedto the lower end of the block Ib, and comprises for this purpose, at the upper part, a tenon 2'1 which is inserted into a suitable mortise inthe block a'nd is held in place by a key 29 (Fig. 1).

The operation is the following;

The apparatus is lowered upon the material to be raised, the grab being open, and the cable 3 being held stretched, whilst the cable 13 is slackened. With the grab thus open upon the material, the operator draws upon the closing cable 13, while the opening cable is now slackened. The pulleys oi' block 10 rise in in the body 1, thus causing therotation of the scoops 20 in the direction of the arrows.

The grab is opened by slackening the cable 13, 4o while maintaining the grab in the raised position by the cable 3. The block is now lowered in the body 1 and causes the rotation. of the scoops 20 in the contrary direction' to the arrows. V

If the ground to be excavated is not very hard, the two hemispherical scoops 20 having` two blades, as above set forth, may be suillcient for the work, but if the ground consists of earth containing loose stones, it is preferable to employ scoops having two blades specially adapted for working in a ground of a particular consistency;

ythe means such as scoops with claws. may also and the bracket 24 removed from the block 10, in order to replace the assembly consisting of the ring 17, the scoops 20 and the bracket 24 by another assembly which is adapted to the nature of the ground to be worked upon.

Figs. 3 and 4 represent one of these interchangeable devices, in which the ring 'l comprises four forks 19 serving as pivots forfour scoops 30 (any othernumber of forks and scoops may obviously be used), each of which comprises a rib or a flat arm 31. Each arm 31 engages in a deep groove 32 formed in a forked bracket 24 which has as many such grooves as there arescoops 30. The arms 31 are pivoted in said grooves by means of spindles 33 passing through slots 34 in the said arms.

In the form of construction shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the ring 17 carries three scoops 20 (only one of which is shown in Fig. 5) whose central ribs 23 are pivoted in a deep groove 32 formed in a bracket 24 having three grooves.

For extremely hard ground, the scoops 2O may be replaced by round cutters of suitable shape `adapted to cut into very hard ground.

' afterwards in order to grasp the material to be removed by means of the scoops 20 or the claws 4form of the body 1, which replaces the usual frames or traction rods of Ythe grabs, the said body will withstand very hard shocks.

As the closing mechanism is contained in the body 1, which is closed at top and bottom respectively by element 1 and block 10, the said mechanism is protected against contact with sand, earth orstones which might offer prejudice to the working of the apparatus.

It is evident that the device comprising two cables for the opening ano closing of the grab,

Having now described my invention what I' claim as newand desire to securel by Letters ,Patent is.;

1. An apparatus of the kind referred to com- I prising a grab device, an elongated preferably cylindrical body combined with said grab and intended for the guiding of the grab device in the bore formed by the excavation of the earth, a member detachably mounted on the bottom of said elongated body, operating means adapted to bore the ground by percussion and to evacuate the disaggregated materials, said operating means being pivotally supported bysaid detachable member, a metallic block slidably mounted within said elongated body, means connecting said operating means with said block, a forked member detachably mounted on said block and pivotally supporting said connecting means and a mechanism mounted and entirely concealed within said elongated body and controlling the sliding of said block and thereby the opening and the closing of the grab.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 further provided with abutments disposed on the bottom .of the elongated body and on the operating means, these abutments being intended to make contact when the grab is open and to limit thereby its degree of opening and to receive the shocks due to the percussion on the ground.

3. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said block actuating mechanism consists of cables and a number of pulleys mounted on said block and said elongated body.

4. An apparatus according to claim l, wherein the upper part of the elongated body is provided with a chamber containing a lubricating fluid and with channels for bringing said lubricating fluid towards said mechanism controlling the sliding of said block.

5. An apparatus of the kind referred to comprising an elongated hollow body, boring means adapted to operate by violent percussion, pivotally and preferably detachably mounted upon the bottom 'of said body and also intended for seizing the disaggregated material, a heavy slidable element within said hollow body connected to said boring means and adapted to actuate them,

said element forming in theupper part of said elongated body a substantially closed chamber, actuating means for said slidable element; mounted and entirely concealed within said chamber, and supporting means for said appa-v ratus adapted to violently drop the latter upon the ground in order to operate the boring by direct impact` and to lift it thereafter.

6. An apparatus of the kind referred to comprising a grab device. an elongated preferably cylindrical body combined with said grab, having relatively thick walls and high weight, and intended for the guiding of the grab device in the bore formed bythe excavation ofthe earth, operating means adapted to bore the ground by violent impact thereon and to evacuate the disaggregated materials, mounted preferablyl in a detachable way on the bottom of said elongated body, a heavy block slidably mounted within said elongated body, and forming a substantially closed chamber in the upper part of said elongated body controlling means for causing the sliding of said block mounted and entirely concealed within said chamber, and means for connecting said block with said operating means and providing for the opening and the closing of these latter means. PIERRE JEAN MARIE THEODQRE ALLARD. 

